


got you tonight

by blushandbooks



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, it might make you a lil sad sad but thats it, nothing graphic happens, rose and cameron are julie's kids <3, sweet but sad, the major character death warning is not like... INTENSE, this might be a little sad :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27593756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blushandbooks/pseuds/blushandbooks
Summary: they were supposed to be legends. what happens when their time finally comes?or, rose molina reflecting on her family's career and what comes after.
Relationships: Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Julie & Luke & Alex & Reggie, Julie & her two kids uwu, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 25
Kudos: 139





	got you tonight

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally going to have multiple parts to it, and for some reason I wrote this last part first. because i've got two multi-chap fics ongoing, I decided to publish this as a standalone just for fun. If I ever write the parts that were planned to preface this, then I will publish them too. for now enjoy this and maybe grab tissues?? idk.
> 
> title from "live or die" by noah cyrus and lil xan
> 
> Cameron's name is in honor of Cameron Boyce obviously. Rest in peace, king.

Rose and Cameron were always warned by their mom that this day would come. They were well prepared.

Growing up, they never questioned the three ghosts that lived in their home with their mom. They knew that it was their mom’s band members, and that other people couldn’t see them either, and that it was only their mom who could. But the band was there for them in other ways.

Luke taught Rose how to play the guitar when she was barely big enough to hold one, and Reggie joined in the lessons later to show her the base. Cameron and Alex bonded over fashion and using music to get out their frustrations. Their mom’s band served as three fathers, and again, they never understood what was wrong with that when their mom would tell them not to talk about the ghosts in front of other people. 

Only Aunt Flynn and Uncle Carlos knew, along with Carrie and Nick. 

When they were seven and eight, things started to come together. When their mom did interviews, she talked about the “holograms” she performed with and how they recorded albums at their in-home studio. Other people didn’t believe that ghosts were real. 

When they were thirteen and fourteen, their mom broke it down for them in more detail. She explained how some ghosts have “unfinished business,” and that when they take care of it, they pass over. The boys didn’t know what their unfinished business was after a rushed performance at the Orpheum when she was 16 , and they never really knew when the time would come. 

At 24, when they went triple platinum, she panicked and thought that that would be it. They had become famous, successful recording artists -- _ that had to be it, right? _

She was preparing for them to leave her, and it while they didn’t end up crossing over at the time, it was one of the most painful events she had ever tried to come to terms with in her life. Almost more so than losing her mom -- because these were the guys that helped her deal with the death of her mom. 

In her own words, she “thought that the grief of losing them would have killed her.”

So, she adopted two children at 25. There were so many things that she wanted to do, including have kids -- but she needed to do it as soon as possible. She never knew how much time she had. 

Luke, occasionally, would hint to her that she could always move on with her life -- Rose and Cameron often heard their mom’s half of those arguments -- but it was abundantly clear that he was her soulmate. He loved her so much that he was afraid of holding her back and she loved him so much that she didn’t care what happened, as long as she had him. 

To the media, Julie was a single mother; but in private, Rose and Cameron refer to Luke as “Dad” and sometimes even Reggie and Alex, too. 

The general precaution that their mom decided to take was that if and when the boys crossed over, there was a high likelihood that her time would come soon after. Her kids knew it, and the people who knew about the boys did too -- but no one else. 

Fast forward to a September morning in the Julie and the Phantoms household -- Rose and Cameron have moved out, already in their mid-twenties, but are home that morning for one of their regular visits.

“Hey Aunt Flynn,” Rose calls out when she sees her godmother in the kitchen. “Where’s Mom?”

Flynn turns to Rose, gives her a weak smile, and nods her head upwards.

“She’s on a call upstairs. We think that-”

Flynn gets interrupted by Cameron’s loud entrance alongside Carlos. Rose goes to hug them both and feels a greater presence around her, wrapping its arms to surround them in a group hug. It’s a familiar feeling to all of them. 

“Hi Dad,” Cameron smiles. “Where’s Mom and the guys?”

“Upstairs,” Flynn and Rose respond together. “But I don’t know where the guys are,” Rose finishes. Suddenly, Cameron’s hair gets ruffled up and the tablet that they keep in the living room pipes up:

“This is Alex, Luke and I are right here. Reggie is trying to eavesdrop on the phone call your mom is on.”

Julie, Flynn and Carlos had worked around the house to set up tablets in almost every room for the boys to type on, so whatever they wanted to communicate to those who can’t see them can hear it from the tablet. It’s either that, or Julie acts as a ghost translator. 

“What is this mysterious call?” Rose questions loud enough for Flynn to hear in the kitchen. “Auntie, you got all weird about it.”

“We don’t even know what it is,” a robotic voice emanates from the tablet. Flynn rests the small knife down that she was using to cut tomatoes, and sighs.

“Your mom wants to be the one to tell you. She’s glad you’re all here, actually. It’ll be easier like this.”   
  
“Easier?” Cameron questions, more confused than before. “What’s going to be-”

The recognizable sound of a door creaking open rings out from upstairs, and Julie comes downstairs with tears in her eyes. The tablet doesn’t make any noise, but Rose and Cameron know that the guys are talking to their mom based on how she is looking at the space off to her right. 

“They’re going to induct Julie and the Phantoms into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” she squeaks, on the verge of bursting into tears. Rose and Cameron can’t tell if they are tears of joy or sadness; because this means a handful of things for them.

“Oh my God, Mom, that’s-- That’s amazing,” Rose tells her mother, voice soft. 

“We always knew it was coming,” Cameron smirks, walking up to hug his mom. She starts crying into his shoulder, and Carlos comes up to add to the hug.

“Jules, congrats.” 

While the three of them (possibly more, Rose can’t tell) hug, her and Flynn lock eyes. 

“So,” Rose starts, “you think this is it?” 

The presence is back, tripled the volume it had been. She knows all of the guys are either hugging her or touching her in some way as her eyes well, waiting for Julie’s answer. 

“Yeah, mija. We think this might be it.” 

Months later, everything is inconspicuously prepared: Funeral arrangements, Julie’s will, how the announcement will be made. Cameron often vocalizes his hopeful questions about “what if she doesn’t go with them? What if she makes it through and she’s fine?”

Rose responds how she always does: “Mom’s soul is attached to theirs. You know that. Besides… I don’t think we want to live in a world where our mom doesn’t have them. Where she doesn’t have Dad.” 

(They know a world where their mom and dad weren’t together would be a dark one. Darker than one without either of them.)

Cameron nods, because he understands. He’s lucky to have had such an amazing mom for 24 years -- he just wishes, sometimes, that he could have her and a dad that he could actually see. 

But anyways -- the day is coming. 

It’s a beautiful cold night when the induction happens. Their mom looks radiant and absolutely stunning, and they walk with her on and off the red carpet and into the auditorium. Legends sit among them, but then again, Julie and the Phantoms became legends too. 

When she’s called up to perform, Julie takes a deep breath.

“We’re going to bring it back a little, everyone. The guys and I thought it would be fun to perform the first song we ever did in a real concert venue. This is dedicated to my family, my beautiful children, and the three guys that made this night possible. Don’t give up. Create your own path. And stand tall.”

The audience, to be brief, flips their shit. 

High-pitched screams and whoops echo through the auditorium while Julie begins the song, and it hits Rose and Cameron -- not for the first time -- how much their family’s music affected people. 

Rose clutches her brother’s hand in a death grip (which he eagerly reciprocates) as they watch their mom command a stage like she used to 20 years ago, and belt out the lyrics to a song that they danced to in diapers. When their dad[s] pop in like the holograms that the world thinks they are, the tears begin to flush out of their eyes. Julie and Luke share a microphone as they stare at each other like there isn't an audience of raucous people screaming the lyrics with them. It's always just been them. Rose and Cameron don't even bother to wipe their tears -- it's overwhelming, and they know more will follow.

This is the last time they will ever see their family perform together. 

It’s magic as they reach the final chorus and Rose and Cameron scream it as loud as the rest of the audience is. The music stops, and Julie looks at the guys, and they poof out like they always do -- but Rose thinks that her mom can still see them, because she cries with her eyes focused intently to her right. 

Everyone probably thinks it’s the frontwoman’s emotions running high -- but Cameron and Rose can tell when they see their mom’s smile quiver that the guys are gone.

Like, crossed-over gone.

Rose, Cameron, Flynn and Carlos all stay at the house the night after they get home from the induction ceremony. All four of them take turns saying goodnight individually before Julie calls them all into her room together. 

“You have all made my life and career brighter, happier, and more worth living than I ever could have dreamed. We are all always going to be with you, no matter what. Thank you for everything that you have done for us.”

It’s the most beautiful, most depressing moment that any of them have experienced. They embrace, one last time, and then they disperse to bed. Rose notices the presence of one of her dad’s flannel shirts wrapped around her mom as she says her final goodnight and makes a quiet, teary exit. 

(She'll always be thankful for the fact that she had parents that loved each other so infinitely.)

The next morning, it’s just what they had predicted: Julie’s gone. 

Rose and Cameron always were told by their mom that she would be with the band no matter what -- and she never failed to prove it to them. 


End file.
